In Cold Blood

National Bestseller On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence. "From the Trade Paperback edition."

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This was a great read. My wife, who usually is aghast at "all the negative media" I read and watch, said "oh, it's a classic". Due to subject matter, she would never be caught moribund reading it. But I liked it, the writing was superb.

Not sure what all the fuss is about from the true-crime-fan community. I found it rather tedious and if it was not such a classic I would not have made myself finish it. Obviously I am happy that the killers were caught and they family can rest in peace knowing justice was somewhat served, but before reading this I had assumed this was an unsolved case and that's why the case has been so notorious for so long. I think knowing who the murderers are throughout the novel is part of what makes it so boring. There's no mystery to it all; it's just 350 pages of a tragic story and a page by page reminder of why these killings were so completely pointless. Completed 5/2/18.

It was a really detailed and well researched book but at the same time easy to read. If you like true crime I recommend it. I normally have difficulty reading alternating story lines but I did not with this book.

Cynthia_N
Dec 15, 2017

I was a little disappointed in this one. It wasn't bad but it just didn't live up to my expectations.

Portions of this novel dragged for me, I'll admit, but the rest was exciting. Some parts were shattering. Having watched Capote starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, I can't help but feel the author's presence lurking just outside the perimeter of the text.

Breathtaking and incredible, In Cold Blood is one of my favourite books of all time. Truman Capote's exhaustingly-researched true crime book, detailing a multiple murder and its consequences, reads like a haunting and beautiful novel. “No one will ever know what In Cold Blood took out of me,” Capote once said. “It scraped me right down to the marrow of my bones. It nearly killed me. I think, in a way, it did kill me.”

Though true crime books were written before "In Cold Blood," Truman Capote's story - originally a series of four feature length articles in The New Yorker in 1965 prior to its publication in book form a year later - is the gold standard of the genre, the one by which all others are measured. Capote had written several plays and novels beforehand (e.g. "Breakfast at Tiffany's") but he outdid himself with this one.

A masterful piece of investigative journalism but written in the style of a novel, the story of a functional Kansas family who was held hostage then systematically murdered remains haunting to this day. It is still shocking that Dick Hickock and Perry Smith took over the Clutter home in the mistaken belief that the family had $10,000 in their possession, only to make off with $40 and leaving behind to survive two adult sisters (fortunately not there at the time); then going on a crime spree hanging bad cheques and stealing cars (and license plates) across America before they were finally caught in Las Vegas.

Also notable is the effect the atrocity had not just on the townsfolk of the community, but also on the prosecutors and law enforcement officials who had to deal with something on a scale almost unprecedented in the state's history.

Capote wrote several books after this one, but none ever measured up to what proved to be his masterpiece. It remains a shame that a lifestyle of hard living ended his career and life in 1984 at the age of 59. The fact the book remains in print speaks to its power and enduring legacy. A must read, although it is definitely too graphic for pre-teens.

In Cold Blood is certainly riveting and, at times, gorgeously rendered. Some of the scenes come across as masterfully written fiction; of course, if you research the book after reading it, you'll find that some actually were fiction.